


twisted

by ameliafuckingshepherd



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Dark Magic, Elemental Magic, Elsa Has Ice Powers (Disney), Gardens & Gardening, Gothic, Horror, Ice Powers, POV Third Person Limited, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:46:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22851217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ameliafuckingshepherd/pseuds/ameliafuckingshepherd
Summary: Honey Maren takes a job on a large estate caring for the gardens. At first, nothing seems strange. But with the inexplicable cold spells that fall over the land in mid July and the governor's daughter that never leaves the house, there is more to the family than there seems.
Relationships: Anna & Elsa (Disney), Elsa & Honeymaren (Disney)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 19





	1. don't go upstairs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MercuryK](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercuryK/gifts).



> am i the laziest person in the universe for calling her Honey Maren instead of making up a last name? absolutely, leave me alone
> 
> this chapter is very short because i'm just playing around with this idea at the moment. let me know if you want me to continue writing this!
> 
> check out [this](https://pin.it/XRzFM4M) board for visuals :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honey's first day working for governor Runegard and his family does not go as planned and leaves her with unanswered questions.

Agnarr Runeard has a secret. This Honey knew the instant she met the governor. He and his wife hired her without so much as an interview, which was strange in and of itself. It isn't her business what goes on in these walls, but she can't help but wonder.

She's just there to tend the garden.

The governor's wife shows her around the estate, pointing out the plants she likes and the plants she wishes would grow faster. Workers pick a strange fruit from an orchard of strange trees. They are the only other people Honey has seen since she got here. They don't look her in the eyes. The grounds seem almost endless. The wife says it's been a long time since anyone has worked on the garden, and Honey wonders why. They're paying her more than they should, especially seeing as there really isn't much to be done in the way of pruning and weeding. Everything looks wilted, the way greenery does after an unexpected frost.

The wife tells her to come whenever she likes, but not to stay past ten at night, and not to work on the weekend. She claims the weekends are a time of rest for everyone. Honey asks where she should log her hours. The wife tells her not to worry about it--they'll know when she's here and when she's not.

The wife shows her the hedge maze. It is overgrown with thorns and grass, seemingly the only thing on the grounds in need of actual work. Honey feels her heart beat a little faster in excitement. The wife takes her to a side door in the house and hands her a set of keys. This was once the servants' quarters. Now, it's a break room and home to the pair of live-in maids. Five people sit around a coffee table. They quiet when Honey enters the room. She turns around, but the wife has already gone.

* * *

Mattias is security. He doesn't have a gun but carries a long sword. The twin maids, Yelena and Yevonne, don't talk much. Reina is a cook, Elle is her apprentice. They know all the household gossip, according to Mattias. But they don't tell just anyone. The women wear long dresses with diamond-pattern stitching on the hem and bodice. Honey can't quite place the time period the clothes seem to be from, but God knows it's nothing anyone is wearing nowadays. This whole place seems stuck in the past. Her jeans and flannel feel out of place. She asks if there's a uniform. Yelena gives her a strange look and shrugs. 

Honey excuses herself from the room, but Mattias grabs her arm hard. His words send ice through her veins. _Don't go upstairs. Strange things go on in the house._ She pulls away and decides it's time to hunt down the garden shed.

She doesn't see another soul for the rest of the day. The orchard is clothed in a thick cloud of mist, now, and a chill settles over the grounds even though it's the middle of summer. Honey starts by mowing the uneven, yellowed grass. The sun sets by five, temperature following suit. She thinks she wants to leave. 

As she walks to her car, a tingle runs up her spine, and she looks back. In a window on the top floor, a woman watches her leave. She, too, looks timeless. It’s too dark to tell the color of her dress, but Honey is sure it’s nothing you could find in Target. The woman is tall and pale. Almost like a shadow of the past.

Suddenly, it seems much later than five. Honey checks her watch. It's half-past ten. Time seems to move differently here. The darkness urges her to _get out._ The woman in the window meets Honey's eyes and backs away from the glass. The moonlight illuminates her white hair, but she doesn't look old. Honey shakes her head and jogs the rest of the distance to the driveway. The car's windows are webbed with frost. 

Tomorrow, she'll leave long before the sun goes down.


	2. keep the cold away

Honey finds a dress folded in the break room. Yelena points at her, says, _Put that on. It will keep the cold away._

Honey didn’t realize how cold she really was. 

The dress fits perfectly and strangely, despite a lifelong hatred of dresses, she finds herself more comfortable in it than her regular clothes. Yelena looks her up and down and nods in approval. She beckons Honey, who obeys. Up close, Yelena’s blue eyes seem bottomless, like those of a doll, or someone sleepwalking. Yelena’s hands work through Honey’s hair quickly, braiding it around her head. 

When Yelena is done, she smiles. _The wife likes is that way._

Honey doesn’t care what the wife thinks. She wants to rip these braids out of her hair and tear the dress up, but when she looks at the trees, she calms. It’s just a hairstyle. And it would be nice if her hair wasn’t getting in the way of her work so often. The dress, though grey and really not her color, is warmer than her winter jacket. 

Maybe it isn’t so bad. 

Like yesterday, a thick mist hangs over the grounds, and most ominously, over the orchard. The orchard with its strange workers and stranger fruit. She isn’t here for the orchard. She’s here for the hedges. 

The hedges that seem to bite back whenever she touches them with pruning shears. A hedge trimmer would be easier, surely, but the dusty old shed holds nothing but ancient farm equipment. Come to think of it, Honey isn’t sure there’s even electricity in the manor. After five minutes, her arms are scratched and bloody. 

* * *

The wife brings Honey in the house. A tree on the third floor is dying, and the Wife doesn’t know why. The house smells like an old log cabin. History lingers here, she can feel it on the air. This place is old, sacred. Honey is almost afraid to breathe. 

_The wife presses her lips together and promises to pay Honey extra for today. _That really isn’t necessary, Miss,_ Honey mumbles, for some reason embarrassed by the offer. She can’t take any more of the Runeard’s money (though god knows they have more than enough). _It’s my job._ _

As Honey climbs the spiral stairs, she grows colder. And colder. And colder. Her hands go numb, and when they reach the ‘sick’ tree, she’s shivering so much she can’t keep still enough to touch the poor plant's leaves without tearing them. She doesn’t need to. It is clear what’s killing the tree. The wife looks like she already knows what Honey is about to say, but doesn’t want it to be true. 

The sun shines outside, but the edges of the windows crawl with frost. The wife pulls her jacket closer. She does not look at the window or the frost-wilted tree, but up at the ceiling, as if praying during church. 

Honey finds herself wondering what lurks behind the estate, the governor, and the goddamn hedges that is worth praying for. 

* * *

Honey does not spend much more time on the hedges. They rip her skin and shake in silent mockery. The most covers the orchard and creeps up her skirt, caressing, probing, like it's trying to get to know the stranger in the garden. 

Honey shoos the mist away, but it refuses to leave. 

The crunch of frozen grass under her feet means it’s time to go. She breaks into a run on her way to her car as the evening sets in. Like yesterday, she looks back at the house, one foot in the car. And like yesterday, the pale woman meets her eyes. 

It’s enough to send Honey speeding down the gravel road. 

**Author's Note:**

> hello! go read 'Arendale Academy' by mercuryk. if it weren't for her, I wouldn't have found the inspiration to write this. if you've got any ideas for the next chapter, tell me in the comments. I am not sure where i'll be taking this fic. Thank you for reading!  
> -cat  
> edit: im having such a hard time formatting on this godforsaken website so if something looks funky, i apologize. Odds are I’ve tried and failed to fix it, but please tell me anyway in case it’s something I’ve missed


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